Mistake Frees Man Linked To '74 Rape

May 27, 1994|By Jerry Crimmins, Tribune Staff Writer.

A Mt. Prospect man who was arrested in a rape case from 20 years ago in New Jersey was able to post bond and go free pending his next court hearing partly because a sheriff's officer misunderstood the charge, a Cook County Sheriff's Department spokesman said Thursday.

A sheriff's officer told Judge Abishi C. Cunningham last week that the suspect, Shelby Henderson, 42, of Mt. Prospect, was charged with assault, a misdemeanor, said sheriff's spokesman William Cunningham.

Henderson is actually wanted in Camden County, N.J., on a charge of assault with intent to rape stemming from an incident in 1974, authorities have said.

But believing that that charge was simple assault, Cunningham set Henderson's bond at $5,000, the sheriff's spokesman said. Henderson posted 10 percent of that amount last Thursday and was freed pending his next court appearance on June 28.

The sheriff's officer who gave the judge the incorrect information based his knowledge on a telephone conversation he had with authorities in New Jersey, William Cunningham said. But he should have also examined the "rap sheet," or written document listing the charges against Henderson, William Cunningham said.

He stated that the document was also available to the judge and the assistant state's attorney in the courtroom when the bond was set.

The fact that Henderson was wanted in New Jersey was discovered when Henderson reported his car stolen to police in Mt. Prospect. Mt. Prospect police checked his name for outstanding arrest warrants, which they said was standard procedure.